Ultrafast laser ablation of high-voltage cathodes for next generation 3D lithium-ion batteries

A promising approach for enhancing the electrochemical properties of a lithium-ion battery is the combination of a highvoltage cathode with a three-dimensional (3D) electrode architecture created through ultrafast laser ablation. In this work, the ablation characteristics of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) cathodes either fabricated by an N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone-based (NMP) or water-based electrode processing were examined. The influence of the binder on the resulting ablation depth as well as the ablation area and volume of the generated grooves was analyzed. An electrochemical analysis of unstructured and selected laser structured LNMO cathodes of both binder types was conducted to characterize the influence of the 3D electrode design on the electrochemical performance. For both LNMO cathodes, a significant increase of the specific discharge capacity at a C-rate of 5C could be observed for the cells containing the laser structured electrode variants.